OJC offering Real Estate Training courses starting in January

Otero Junior College will offer two Real Estate training courses during spring semester that will provide students with the educational background to sit for the Colorado Real Estate Licensure exam.

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LA Junta Tribune - La Junta, CO

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Posted Dec. 12, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Posted Dec. 12, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Otero Junior College will offer two Real Estate training courses during spring semester that will provide students with the educational background to sit for the Colorado Real Estate Licensure exam. Students must be at least 18 years of age to enroll in these courses.

The Real Estate Training Program has been divided into two sections; Real Estate Broker I (REE 201) and Real Estate Broker II (REE 202). Real Estate Broker I is a 6 credit course that will be held on the OJC campus every Monday night, starting on Jan. 14 and running through April 29 from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Bob DuBois from DuBois Realty will be the lead instructor for the course.

The second course, Real Estate Broker II, is also a 6 credit course and will be held on Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 10 p.m., starting on Jan. 16 through May 1. Tony Walisky, from Norm Murphy and Associates, Inc., will be the lead instructor for the course. The courses are co-requisites, and must be taken together. To test for the Colorado Real Estate Licensure exam, student must have completed 168 hours of education. The two courses - 12 semester hours total - equate to the required 168 hours of education.

According to the program instructors, once students have successfully completed both courses, they will be prepared to sit for the Colorado Real Estate Licensure exam.

“While most students who go through the program are interested in becoming licensed, others take the course for the excellent general knowledge it offers,” said Tony Walisky, Real Estate Broker II instructor. “They learn about titles, financing, insurance and other topics that are important if you ever buy or sell a home or piece of property,” he said.

Bob DuBois, Real Estate Broker I instructor, also mentioned the valuable information people receive about the responsibilities of being a home owner.

“The first-time homeowner often encounters issues dealing with home ownership that they are unprepared for. By taking this course and gaining some general knowledge about rights and responsibilities, new owners can feel more secure with making business decisions that involve their home or property,” said DuBois.

He further explained that investors can also benefit from the classes. “We have had several students in the past who took the course simply to become more knowledgeable real estate investors, and in this market specifically, that would be a definite benefit. In REE 201 students learn appraisal techniques, cap rates, Fair Housing regulations, ADA requirements, tenant relations and much more that applies directly to successful investing,” said DuBois.

Between the two instructors, students can take advantage of their many years of real estate experience. “There are probably not many circumstances dealing with real estate that one or both of us have not had an experience with,” said DuBois. “We encourage a lot of interaction in class and try to make it interesting by drawing upon our experiences.”

Page 2 of 2 - Toward the end of the semester, students will begin preparations to take the Colorado Real Estate Licensure exam that consists of 155 randomly selected questions out of pool of 400 questions. “We have had a good success rate with our students passing the state exam,” said Tony Walisky. “I think we prepare them very well.”

Spring semester begins the week of Jan. 14, 2013. To accommodate students registering for spring semester, the OJC Student Services Center will be open for the next two weeks from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays. The campus will be closed from Dec. 24, 2012, through Jan. 1, 2013. All campus offices will be open again on Jan. 2, 2013.

For more information about the Real Estate Training Program, contact Ralph Newby chair of the OJC Business Technologies Department, at 384-6853 or the OJC Student Services Office at 384-6831. Students must be at least 18 years of age to enroll in these courses.